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Bonus Zone: Wrestlemania 35
62 Plays7 years ago
Welcome to the bonus zone! The boys have so much to talk about this Thursday they wanted to go ahead and give you their reactions to Wrestlemania 35!
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Transcript
Introduction and Humorous Banter
00:00:00
Speaker
Hey everybody, welcome to another episode of Predetermined, a Pro Wrestling Hangout. You are once again entering the bonus zone, I think we called it that, months ago, when we used to do bonus episodes every now and then. My name's Garret Callender, and with me, as always, a man who, despite what Ronda Rousey says, does not believe that tables are for bitches, Derek Halpin.
00:00:21
Speaker
Yeah, I felt personally attacked while watching Mania because I felt like she was speaking to me directly. Tables are not for bitches, even though during Ronda's match, they kind of didn't do the table spot the way you would hope it played out. Tables are not for bitches. Tables are for tough guys and somewhere Bubba Ray Dudley's pissed.
00:00:43
Speaker
I love that. That should be the shirt. Tables are for tough guys.
Wrestling Content Overload?
00:00:48
Speaker
Can I just tell you how much I love the bonus zone? I love the bonus zone. I hope everybody else loves it. It's fucking bonus. First of all, you're not paying anything for this podcast anyway, so anything we give you is already free. Secondly, I know people have been digesting a lot of pro wrestling in the last few days. That's okay. Here's some more. Enjoy it.
00:01:09
Speaker
or just listening to two guys talk about how they're digesting all the wrestling they've taken. Well, we have been getting a lot of downloads lately, so there's at least the implied interest in what we do. So there's no reason to think that this is unnecessary. There are more and more people downloading this wacky little podcast. So for many of these people, this may be their first experience with the bonus zone.
WrestleMania Significance
00:01:36
Speaker
The dark match, if you will.
00:01:39
Speaker
Yeah, we went through a lot of names with bonus episodes. I mean, I think we both hit a point where we realized we didn't want to do an episode for every single WWE pay-per-view. Yeah.
00:01:51
Speaker
We tried for a little while and then realized that's a lot of work and in order for it to be relevant it has to get out really quick and sometimes we just don't want to record. But I think mania is worthy of a bonus zone. So don't worry we watched a lot of other shit we will be talking about that on the normal episode on Thursday but
00:02:10
Speaker
Before WWE does anything to change our minds about what we're already thinking about this year's WrestleMania, we're gonna go ahead and talk
Humorous Intros Reflection
00:02:17
Speaker
about it. Derek and I have not discussed WrestleMania at all yet, so I have no idea what he thought of the show. I'm excited to get into it, hit our goddamn music.
00:02:59
Speaker
Does it feel good to know that we wasted like three minutes of a short bonus zone episode just on our intro? Just talking about bonus zone. And we're still doing it. I don't regret it. It's still ongoing.
00:03:11
Speaker
This episode could be three hours. Garrett. Derek.
WrestleMania 35: The Beginning
00:03:16
Speaker
WrestleMania 35. It has come. It has gone. Apparently there's still some fans waiting outside of MetLife Stadium or MetLife Center if you're Hulk Hogan. And he fucked it up while making a joke about fucking it up.
00:03:31
Speaker
Right, I popped for it. That's where the show begins. The show begins with, hey, here's Alexa Bliss. And I felt like there was a sizable portion of the crowd at the start of the show that didn't want to cheer Hulk Hogan. Did you pick up on that vibe? I got that vibe from my living room. I mean, I'm talking about the folks within my living room. How many folks did you have in your living room? At that point, I don't know, four.
00:04:00
Speaker
Did Garrett show up? He did show up. Him and his wife showed up and watched with us. Yay. Did he get chopped again? I did not get chopped again because it's mania weekend and I got a pass on eating garbage, I think. Yeah. Good for you.
00:04:16
Speaker
Yeah, I kind of wondered, like, is this really where you wanna start it? Bringing out the guy. And by the guy, I mean Hulk Hogan. I treated him like Voldemort there. He's a jobber. He's he who shall not be named. I don't even remember what he said other than coming out and fucking it up because what happened immediately following that was such a huge surprise that it just set the tone for the rest of the night.
Rollins vs. Lesnar: A Surprise Win
00:04:43
Speaker
it did and I had you know been thinking in the week leading up to the show and I tweeted out actually right before I was a day of yeah I tweeted out that I thought that the best way to do this show was obviously to close with the women's main event which was already scheduled but I thought that you had to start the show off with Kofi and Daniel Bryan and in the middle of the show you had to have Seth and Lesnar because in my mind
00:05:10
Speaker
I thought there's no way they're going to have Lesnar and Rollins go on first. Well, it's fine the way they did it because it was fantastic. It worked out great. I think everyone kind of freaked out when they saw Paul Heyman walk by Hulk Hogan and they realized what was coming. Oh, it was when he was coming down the ramp, I was thinking no fucking way. There is no way this is where we're starting this.
00:05:37
Speaker
Oh yeah. Oh, go ahead. I was gonna say, and it's funny because there's literally no joke behind the fact that Lesnar was probably home and in bed while that show was still going on.
00:05:48
Speaker
Oh, that's real, man. That's not that long of a flight, couple hours. Yeah, that shit was still happening when he landed. There's no way it wasn't. But, oh man, when he came out, my first thought was, oh shit, Lesnar's retaining and they're going to use the rest of the show to build us back up from this. Not the case. Can I respond to that?
00:06:11
Speaker
Yeah, I was I was you if you were thinking that you were not the only person who was thinking that because my timeline on Twitter was just tons of people saying this means that Rollins is gonna lose and I didn't understand that since usually most shows start with a feel-good exciting moment to get you jazzed for the rest of the show. I thought it was really unconventional wisdom to think that they would have Lesnar do his same shit to kick that show off.
00:06:37
Speaker
I mean, at this point, I don't ever know what to expect from them. And it started with Rollins just getting his ass beat all over the place. And I thought, oh, maybe they're gonna have to delay this match and it'll end up happening later in the night. And we get to see him beat him later. Because he was kicking his ass before the bell. But the fact that Rollins beat him, and it was just a pretty unceremonious victory.
00:07:05
Speaker
I mean it was not that's not what I mean like it wasn't like a fond farewell to Brock Lesnar they started the show with a short match and it was like fuck you he's gone enjoy the rest of the show everybody a little bit but I but I also somebody I had written something and I agreed with it
00:07:24
Speaker
The theme of the show, I feel like we're the direction that you and I are going to end up talking about how this show felt was this was WWE's attempt at doing what New Japan did with Dominion. Oh, yeah. They just gave you the the positive payoff and the right people winning, regardless of whether or not you agree with every single finish, how it happened.
Event Pacing and Big Moments
00:07:49
Speaker
the show star and I'll actually I actually liked the way the Rollins Lesnar match played out same because every one of the big moments on this show
00:08:01
Speaker
was buffered by other things that you didn't have to necessarily be super super jacked for so that each one of the big moments was special on its own and all of them felt different. They had a very distinct feel to them and this one kicked off the show with yes it was technically a short match if you consider the like when the bell actually rang but it was also the perfect perfect way to start it in the sense that it was a feel-good show and
00:08:27
Speaker
that's a Brock Lesnar match. Short, you know, primarily a match based around finishers. And the ref getting bumped not too long after the bell ring and Rollins going low, echoed back to what happened on Monday with the low blows. And just boom, three curb stomps game over. And the reaction from Heyman was awesome. Everyone in the
00:08:52
Speaker
And that, like, stadium was losing their fucking minds knowing that, like you said, you're right. He's fucking gone. He's out of the way. Let the show begin. It was just such an awesome way to start it with just that, like, throw him out like
Samoa Joe's Dominance
00:09:05
Speaker
a sack of trash. The entire stadium celebrates.
00:09:09
Speaker
And it's just like, hey, it's a new day, it's a new era here. He's gone, we're gonna have other shit for a while. Also, if we're gonna talk about the actual match, I think it's hard not to bring up that that, before the bell, Brock Lesnar just slammed Seth Rollins' head into a beam under the ring.
Runtime Critique: Two-Day Format?
00:09:32
Speaker
He survived it was such a loud thud and clearly the ref was told like check on him a few times Because Lesnar had to just stand there for a while looking at him like can I throw him again? I'm ready to throw him again
00:09:48
Speaker
Well, and like you said, forever how, see, I don't even know if unceremonious is the right word, but I did like the really quick two second shot they did after the match of Lesnar and Heyman leaving down the side of the ramp, like to go to the back, like they made a point to show them like Lesnar leaving, presumably for a while.
00:10:10
Speaker
Like, I can't imagine he's gonna be back tonight on Raw. I mean, he basically, Heyman came out and said, you guys don't like him, we're going back to Vegas where he's respected. So to me that was, hey, we're going to UFC for a while, we'll see you later. Well, they gave fans what they wanted. And Rawlin standing at the top screaming, we did it, made me feel like I accomplished, that was my WrestleMania moment.
00:10:36
Speaker
Well, there were a lot of those moments throughout this show. I thought that Styles and Orton was not as spectacular as I wanted it to be, but I thought it was a good match. And again, the right guy won. Nothing else really needs to be said.
00:10:54
Speaker
Yeah, that one, it's funny because as the show went on, it got to the point where the last part of the show was just quick boom, boom, boom matches, which had a vibe of we're running over time. Yeah, you definitely were. It's funny the matches that got the most time. You could have shaved so much time off, in retrospect, you could have shaved a lot of time off AJ or Randy.
00:11:20
Speaker
I think that, I don't know if that's the big one, to me, and I know people are gonna disagree with this, but Batista, Triple H, they could have shaved five, 10 minutes off of? No, there's several matches they could have shaved a few minutes off of, which as far as the short matches we're talking about, the ones that immediately come to mind are Samoa Joe, which apparently Rey Mysterio's injured.
00:11:46
Speaker
Yeah, that had been the rumor all week, but I also think that for this being a short match, I also think it works as a short match. I really wouldn't mind seeing Joe just for a month or two, every person they put him out there in the ring with, him just squashing. That's who he should be. Absolutely, and especially it makes the US title mean something again. If every person they feed him, he's just dispatching and tossing aside.
00:12:14
Speaker
the question becomes who's going to be the one to finally take the title from him. So.
00:12:20
Speaker
Whether it was because of injury or not, I don't really care. I know that it was shocking to see like a match that was shorter than the guy's entrance, but I didn't feel out of place that it happened that way either. No, I honestly, out of the matches on the card, that was one that I thought was going to surprise us all and blow us away. And I mean, it was like a minute 19 or something. Yeah. But that being said, Samoa Joe should crush Rey Mysterio.
00:12:48
Speaker
Should, yes, absolutely. Size-wise, like he's supposed to be a monster, if you remember, they booked it like maybe Samoa Joe could beat Brock Lesnar, he didn't, but you thought maybe he could. I believe he can beat Rey Mysterio. One of the things I think we need to compliment them on, there's a lot of things, first of all, I'll start by saying
00:13:09
Speaker
I think that you and I would both agree this is one of if not the best mania I've watched in a long time. Like at least since they've gotten to the 30s, this is my favorite mania.
00:13:24
Speaker
totally agree totally agree this is this was better than any of the ones I've been to I've been to that piss you off a little bit that this would like the first one I hadn't gone to in the last four five was the best one yeah a little bit a little bit I sat through a whole lot of 32 make you ask the question out loud well what the fuck were they doing last year
00:13:46
Speaker
This was a mania they booked without any big troll moments. They weren't trolling the fans. Yeah, they made us feel good, the only troll, and it's really the runtime. Yeah. Yeah. And that's going to continue to be a complaint. I mean, the show should be shorter, or they need to do two days, and probably in that order, that's the only way you fix that. Either knock a couple hours off the show, or you do two days.
00:14:14
Speaker
I know I've been thinking about that too. I mean, what what would you do? Like the two days thing. Can you fill a stadium twice? Or do you just sell it as like a two day ticket? So that it's automatically guaranteed. You've got to follow the model that a lot of music festivals are doing.
00:14:33
Speaker
and people are already there for the weekend anyway. We've talked about this in past episodes. I don't know exactly how they would do it. I don't know if you would start by putting the two day passes on sale for both shows and then maybe like a month or two in advance you put one day passes on sale. I don't know how that works but
00:14:55
Speaker
And meanwhile, is it so much a problem for WWE or just for the fans? Because people are still selling it out. It's not like the length of the show is making them not sell tickets. So when you hear, okay, this is skipping ahead a little. I fucking loved the
Kofi Kingston's Historic Victory
00:15:11
Speaker
main event. I loved it a lot, actually. We'll talk about that, yeah. But when you listened, I just rewatched it today. I actually rewatched the entire show today while I was working from home.
00:15:22
Speaker
And I didn't notice last night, because we were all so excited and yelling how quiet the crowd is during an exciting main event. Yes. But it is also 12 fucking 30 at night for them. And they should be sleepy at that point. It's 12, it's 12 30 at night and they still have a commute home or back to their hotels. Which at that point, I mean, there's so many people trying to get on a subway that that had to I mean, I'm sure you didn't get home to like three in the morning from that shit.
00:15:51
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, from what I hear, it was a nightmare. I mean, we'll get we'll get to the end of the show in the runtime. I guess we can talk about some more, but
00:15:58
Speaker
What came after, I mean, I guess, are we gonna talk about every single match or are we gonna talk about the things that stand out? Because I think to compliment this show, you can focus on a couple of things that were really, really good and then forget that there was something else on the card that was fantastic. And case in point, I do not want people to forget how awesome that Shane McMahon Miz match was. That was the match I was getting ready to bring up, Derek. A match that I believe last week I said I was not excited for.
00:16:28
Speaker
Did you get 10 times more than you were expecting? Yeah, it was the first time in a long time that Miz looked like he had some fire in him. Miz did a dangerous thing. Miz wanted to win a match really bad. Yeah.
00:16:44
Speaker
I mean, it was not unfamiliar territory for Shane to have an outside the ring brawl, but it was not commonplace for Miz to go there. And they picked the right scenario for Miz to, like you said, have that extra passion and fire and do dangerous spots up on the scaffolding, like where the cameras were.
Miz vs. Shane: Unexpectedly Thrilling
00:17:03
Speaker
And I was blown away with how good this was. And like, I was losing my mind and I was worried that somebody was gonna get hurt. I didn't know where this was gonna go or how it was gonna end.
00:17:14
Speaker
But by the time when he had Shane cornered at the end of that scaffolding, I was worried about where this was headed. I don't care if there's wood paneling, but there's padding underneath. I don't care. That ending spot to that match is dangerous.
00:17:36
Speaker
Cause if you over rotate on that suplex that, you know, Miz gave to Shane, you can, it's just so much that could go wrong. Shane could end up landing on his feet. You know, Miz can end up flipping over Shane. There's so many things that could happen that could lead to like a serious, like death at a live pay per view. And it seems like both of them came out okay. Obviously Shane ended up on the right side of that fall to get the win.
00:18:03
Speaker
That was not the nastiest bump in the match either.
00:18:09
Speaker
Um, that fucking- Oh, the one where he- The golf cart. Yeah, I- I jumped up out of my seat at that. Cause he hit the top of the- he got kicked over the railing, hit the top of the golf cart, bounced, and then fell, like, another five feet to the floor. What appeared to be on his fucking head? I don't think we got a replay to see how he actually landed from that. Yeah. Cause he was already on the ground. The only other bump of the night that was equally as scary was the one Rousey took upside down off the side of the ring.
00:18:38
Speaker
Where she hit like her ass or her hip or whatever Yeah, like where she had she bumped on the way down and landed like she ended up a landing on her shoulder But got real damn close to landing on her head. I Think um, what give me a couple of the matches on here?
Iconics and Ricochet: Standout Moments
00:18:56
Speaker
The women's tag title match really didn't do much for me. I was happy as hell the Iconics one because I like the Iconics number one, number two. They are legitimately, as far as I can tell, the only real true women's tag team. So it makes sense that it wound up with them. Everyone else has kind of been pieced together and that's fine because it's the beginning of the women's tag division. That's what you're going to do. It's not a knock on anybody else, but
00:19:22
Speaker
I just feel like if you I get why you start it with Sasha and Bailey that makes perfect sense to me but it also makes sense that the next team to get it is actually a real tag team so Yeah to me the match wasn't super memorable but like you said I actually really enjoy the Iconics I was very happy for them and I think they're a team that's gonna be great as champions just they're kind of like gonna be kind of like when Miz has a title and he has something to be shitty about Exactly
00:19:51
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Smackdown Tag Team Championship. Anything to say about this other than it was a pretty good match? No, I mean, I hated the Usos shirts. Was not a fan of their clothing. I do have to make a point. I was losing my mind. I thought the spot where Cesaro was spinning Ricochet in the ring with the swing. Yeah. And Sheamus was just clubbing everybody else.
00:20:18
Speaker
switching from one to the other. I thought that spot was awesome. I did pop really hard for that. Honestly, the thing that made me pop the most in that whole match was just seeing fucking Ricochet at WrestleMania. Yeah. And I was commenting at the time, it's like every time I watch Ricochet, my mind is blown, but it's also the idea that a guy can be that acrobatic and athletic 300 plus days a year. Right?
00:20:46
Speaker
Like it's one thing for like one of the cruiserweights or somebody who has a similar style to have like one move in their arsenal that's like a 450 or something and you look forward to that spot. But that's like all of Ricochet's moves. Like everything he does is something that blows your mind and he's doing that so often and you don't know how he's not injured.
00:21:08
Speaker
Yeah, him and Will Ospreay are kind of the same in that, where the majority of their offense is this insane aerial shit that is crazy to watch, and that is the majority of what they're doing.
Kofi Kingston's Emotional Climax
00:21:22
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, that's pretty much all I'll say. It was awesome seeing Ricochet. Let's talk about what is probably, at least in my opinion, but I'm hearing this from most of other people I've seen online, at least, which is the most important place to get other opinions.
00:21:41
Speaker
Best match of the night, Kofi Kingston Daniel Bryan WWE Championship. If I was to try to explain to somebody what great professional wrestling storytelling is, the build up to this match and the way this match played out and the finish is, it's damn near perfect.
00:22:02
Speaker
Yeah, this was the, as far as just professional wrestling goes, best match. Also, maybe the best, arguably the best story.
00:22:12
Speaker
Correct. Like the main event is hard to say that that's not the best story because it's so long in the making of having the main event. But as far, I mean Kofi was there 11 years as well and he had, man, that was just, it was such a feel good moment. And they really let him milk it at the end when he won and enjoy it like it was the main event.
00:22:35
Speaker
Exactly, exactly. And the only reason I'll give a slight edge to this, the Kofi story is because it really was spontaneous. And it really was something that just two months ago didn't even exist. And it really happened against the perfect opponent for him. Like it was the antithesis, like he literally was the living embodiment of the B plus B plus player. He'll never get a world title run character.
00:23:03
Speaker
and they did it against a guy who used to be that. And Brian during the match played up the role of that's what I used to be, and I'm gonna hold you down the way I was held down. And that, like the scenes, like there was such an emotional exchange between like when Brian had his arms locked and he was stomping him in the head right in front of Xavier and Big E. And then when the tables were turned like five minutes later and Kofi got to do that,
00:23:32
Speaker
right back to him. And you got to see the shithead heel get his comeuppance. And I've made my thoughts known that I'm not a big fan of Treble in Paradise as athletic as it is. It's not like the whatever finisher. But the way he hit it last night was perfect. The way Brian sold it was perfect. And that cover, first of all, a million false finishes before that. But when the fucking finish finally did come,
00:24:01
Speaker
It was emotional. As hell. And just getting to hear the crowd. I mean, cause we've been going back and watching a lot of these old manias and hearing how hot the crowd is for big matches. And the last few years we have not even, we've not gotten that. We've gotten these fucking crazy weird parties where wrestling fans show up to fuck up the biggest wrestling show of the year.
00:24:27
Speaker
Right. And that wasn't what we got this year. We got a thing closer to the first seven WrestleMania's than we got to the last four. Who would have thought that the thing to keep wrestling fans from being rowdy and fucking up the show is giving them what they wanted to see? It's crazy, right? And it's just getting so much praise as being a good show.
00:24:54
Speaker
We're really fucked up solution to that problem. Who would have thought? But and also in between. Between the emotional win. I mean, and this is where like wrestling walks this really crazy line between being predetermined, wink, wink, plug, plug and reality, which was that the moment the three count happened, everything after that was real.
00:25:20
Speaker
Including, and this is where you can't help but get worked. As much as we talked about how wonderful Daniel Bryan's title belt was, it actually was pretty awesome watching them bring back the WWE Championship that was around just a few months ago for this moment for Kofi to wear the real thing.
00:25:43
Speaker
so that when they did bring that out, it was like a fuck yeah, you get to wear that. It was a great moment. Between Xavier and Biggie having huge emotional reactions to the moment, obviously Kofi bringing his kids into the ring and celebrating with them, them having new shirts for the occasion, it was a perfect moment.
00:26:07
Speaker
and the fact that it was literally dead center in the middle of the card is not going to hurt you remembering that this was the WrestleMania where Kofi won. Absolutely. Like it not being the main event does not matter for this match. It was bigger than where it was and no one cared. Yep. And I also think that a lot of people feel like that was the best wrestled match of the night.
00:26:31
Speaker
Maybe Cody was onto something by putting the title match in the middle of the show. He started a trend.
00:26:39
Speaker
Yeah, you're right. The back end of the show was a lot of rushed stuff. What did you think of Batista Triple H? Re-watching it the second time, I think I enjoyed it a little more. Like Dave tripping into the ring? Loved it. And I love that he did it a second. He joked about it as he got back in. I like Batista. I like Hollywood Batista, I should say. I enjoy him now that he's famous more than I did when he was just a wrestler.
00:27:08
Speaker
I feel like he gets it. He gets what the perception is of himself and everything, but I think the match was fine. I didn't hate it, but this was right around the time of the show where people were really tired. Like this is where it started and they still had a lot of matches left
Nostalgia and Mixed Reactions
00:27:24
Speaker
to go. And it felt like an old attitude era brawl with the chains and the sledgehammer. And obviously people will talk about the nose ring getting ripped out. This felt like an attitude era mania match.
00:27:36
Speaker
correct and this was the only one on the card that did and it was nice to have like you know this wasn't a huge nostalgia fest this was everyone who's current but also this match and I think it was nice to have you know have one in there
00:27:54
Speaker
Yeah, but I also think, and not everyone's going to agree. I don't know how other people felt about this. I've seen mixed reactions, but I loved the Elias segment. Loved it. I loved the John Cena that I remember from 2004, 2005 coming back in that spot. I thought it was fantastic. I was losing my mind.
00:28:19
Speaker
I would just like Vince McMahon to take fucking note. He gave us what we wanted and we cheered John Cena and Roman Reigns on the same show. Yeah. Yeah. What did you feel about that? Roman Reigns, Drew McIntyre, whatever you would call it.
00:28:38
Speaker
It wasn't a bad match. There was a lot of athleticism in it. Drew McIntyre popping up to check Roman off the top rope was pretty impressive. I feel like that would have been the main event of a lesser pay-per-view.
00:28:52
Speaker
or like a main event of a SmackDown or a Raw. I totally get having Roman have a WrestleMania spot because he's back and people do like Roman. There was a smattering of boos though for him for the first time since he's been back. I didn't even notice. There were some boos towards Roman, but I also think
00:29:15
Speaker
It was a weird time in the show. I think people were like let's get to the main event and get the fuck out of here.
00:29:24
Speaker
And it's kind of unfortunate because I did feel adamant by the time it got to the Kurt Anglebear and Corbin match, which by the way, was blown away. They just went with that anyway. They were they were committed to that. Like, holy shit. They really gave us the the line from from Bad Santa where he eats the kids Advent calendar when he's drunk and goes back and like tapes it up and puts candy corns in it.
00:29:49
Speaker
And the kid opens it and goes, this one has a candy corn in it. And Billy Bob Thornton responds, they can't all be winners now, can they?
00:29:57
Speaker
Well, I guess you could argue that this was the WWE trolling you moment this match because everyone was expecting a surprise and the surprise was, hey, there's no surprise. He's really wrestling Baron Corbin and Baron Corbin is going to win. But by that point, you're so fucking tired that maybe it didn't even happen. Yeah, it's all just too delirious to remember it properly.
00:30:21
Speaker
Before we get to the main event, anything else that we're forgetting? Yeah, I wanna talk about Triple H's entrance.
00:30:30
Speaker
I look- Fuck Triple H. I look forward- Fuck these entrances. Fuck you, Derek. I watch Pro Wrestling for the pageantry and Triple- No, you don't. Yes, I do. No, you don't give a fuck. Are you telling? Oh, I'm ready to- I've got stuff I need to talk about wrestling-wise, but I have to wait till Thursday because it's some of the other Before Mania shows.
00:30:54
Speaker
Yes, Derek, I do like the pageantry part. I think that's the fun part about WrestleMania. You go to WrestleMania for maybe two really memorable matches, and everything else is fireworks and entrances, and I fucking love it. It's the Oscars of wrestling. Okay, that's fine. I'm not gonna argue with you about pageantry being a necessary part of WrestleMania, because I thought Charlotte arriving to the arena in a helicopter was fucking awesome.
00:31:18
Speaker
What I'm trying to tell you is, Triple H is a part-time, once, maybe twice a year wrestler who, obviously his best years were behind him. He's in his 40s. Garrett, why are they still trying to convince me that Triple H is a bad motherfucker after like 25 years?
00:31:36
Speaker
Like I don't... Do it to somebody else! No! Triple H deserves the biggest entrance of everybody at every WrestleMania and that's what I fucking look forward to now. Fuck off. You just marked out because it was Mad Max. That's it.
00:31:51
Speaker
No, I marked out because he came out in the Mad Max car and the guy driving it was probably in his late 50s. And you know, they were like, okay, so somebody's gonna drive this down. He's like, no, this is my car. I'm driving it. And they're like, we gotta paint your face. You know, maybe it would be badass if that thing was actually moving pretty fast or at a decent speed, but fucking Donald Trump's golf car moves faster than that Mad Max car was moving.
00:32:16
Speaker
Well, God damn it, Derek. They used the same motorcycles two years in a row. You can't tell me they didn't save a little money on the entrances from that. So he got a better one. He got a big car. There's fire coming out of it. You can't drive fast in a fire car, Derek. So you're bitching about the length of the show, but you don't want to cut Triple H's bullshit entrances out of the show. Fuck you.
00:32:36
Speaker
I'm saying there's other places. Okay. For instance, for instance, uh, Colin Jost and Michael Che. They're a little hurt. And then it turns out your dream scenario happens for a doctor's visit where big sexy and Scott Hall are going to put their fingers in your butt.
00:32:53
Speaker
Yeah, that's not my dream scenario, but I get where you're going where that that segment could have gone to him tossed aside. I did like the toothpick was under the surgical mask, though. Yeah, that was a nice touch. So, OK, one thing we didn't mention, we didn't talk about the the royal rumble or whatever the the battle royal at the beginning.
00:33:15
Speaker
And Garrett Keith from, you know, he was on a couple episodes ago. He's a pro wrestler in training. You know him by this point. You listen to the episode. He brought up to me Braun Strowman shape and referred to Braun Strowman as being in fuck shape. And I was like, what is fuck shape? And he said, well, the first time you have sex with somebody, you want to be in really good shape. You want them to, you want to look good for them. So you got to get into fuck shape. Braun Strowman was in it.
00:33:45
Speaker
Who's he trying to impress right now? Because he impressed me. I don't know if he's trying to get me, though. Well, because he ripped off his shirt and finally came down to the ring shirtless for the first time. Yeah, it was cool. Yeah, it was pretty cool. I wish I could tell him to his face. Tell him he was a bully over last summer, but he's in great shape now. Main event.
Main Event Highlights and Chaotic Energy
00:34:14
Speaker
Tell me about how much you love the main event because I can tell you're excited to talk about it. Yeah, I really liked Ronda Rousey in this match. She was a loose cannon. She looked like she was in a constant state of trying to hit a Hurricane Rana on somebody, but just couldn't get it. And I don't know what she was trying to hit, but I loved that it was happening.
00:34:38
Speaker
I think what I'll say about the main event, I don't have anything really bad to say other than just it looked sloppy, which isn't always a bad thing. If, if you're trying to convey that people are fighting and they're not trying to be pretty, um, it did look like a lot of times people were going for, you know, arm bar finishers and, and uh, disarmers and, and figure fours. And a lot of times it was just leg grabbing that involved people falling over, bumping into each other. Um,
00:35:07
Speaker
I thought but I did think the match was exciting. I think everyone was kind of waiting to see what the finish was going to be. I think that was what it was a situation where you were waiting to see what the payoff of all this was going to end up being. And I enjoyed the main event. And I think the thing everyone wants to talk about is the finish.
00:35:27
Speaker
And as of right now, we don't know. And the truth is, this is kind of what sucks about watching pro wrestling, is that you'll have a situation like this, and you're never gonna get like Vince McMahon to be like, here's what was supposed to happen. You're never gonna get a solid answer. Can I give you my guess? Sure, cuz let's talk about it. My guess as to what was happening, cuz I was watching the clock.
00:35:52
Speaker
and realizing it's almost 12 fucking 30. And to me, it almost seemed like that was not the original finish, but I'm guessing they had a shit ton of fireworks to shoot off and probably had a sound curfew. And I'm thinking all that shit had to be done before 12 30, if not sooner. And I'm thinking they were like, you gotta end it right now so we can get these fireworks going.
00:36:18
Speaker
Yeah, but my question is, why don't you just end the show the way people want it? Like if that's, if you need to go home, just have Becky slap on the disarmor in the middle of the ring and have her tap. I don't think Ronda Rousey is the kind of person who you can just figure stuff out on the fly with. But that had to a bit like, so this is what I've heard. I've heard that it was supposed to be a pin.
00:36:42
Speaker
I've heard that the finish was supposed to be a pin similar to the one that we got, but Rhonda's shoulders weren't down. And so the reason they didn't want it to be a submission was they wanted to protect Rhonda so it didn't look like she gave up.
00:36:57
Speaker
It's just kind of like a cop-out. Is she sticking around or is she? I guess we're gonna get more answers to this, obviously, tonight on Raw and in the weeks that follow. But I did enjoy the main event. It did suck. I felt like the show at the end was rushed. I wish Becky had had more time for the fireworks and the confetti. It felt like a couple minutes after she won, the pay-per-view was off the air. Yeah, because they were definitely running out of time.
00:37:26
Speaker
Yeah.
WrestleMania 35: A Memorable Event
00:37:27
Speaker
But let's just call it what it was. WrestleMania 35 was everything you could have wanted. And I'm confused by anyone who has any complaints worth noting other than the runtime, which is a given.
00:37:41
Speaker
Yeah, the runtime kind of is really the only issue with this one and because of that runtime you had a lot of short matches towards the end. Like we didn't even talk about the Fenvalor match and I actually, I think that adding those contacts to Bobby Lashley was the most, the best thing that's happened to his character in a long time.
00:38:00
Speaker
I would absolutely agree. And I made a point to mention that last night, but yeah, I mean, but there was nothing to talk about. The match was, I think, less than five minutes, maybe even less than four. And but again, the right guy went over. Nobody is going to be talking about that anyway after everything else that had happened and whether the show was going to finish. So I think they did everything they needed to do with this pay-per-view. I mean, give them all the credit in the world for as much as they fucked up last year's WrestleMania. They got damn near everything with this right.
00:38:30
Speaker
It really left you in a place feeling good about where WWE is headed. Let's see if they head that way. Yeah, I think I think that's what everyone's reaction is. What they they they did mania right this year. Like now there's that that feeling. It's like that feeling you get when you're having a really good day and you're like, man, something's gonna happen. Like you're just waiting for that thing to fuck it all up.
00:38:52
Speaker
Yeah, you're waiting for Becky to walk out tomorrow night and be like, I've actually got a torn ACL, I have to leave. Who knew that all it was going to take, though, to get Miz to be a hero inside with somebody to call his dad Potato Head and push him?
00:39:09
Speaker
And I'm excited to see where Kofi Kingston's WWE title run goes. I don't know if it'll be long. I don't know if it'll be short, but we'll see what they end up doing with it. And usually for a babyface of this type, it's more about the chase than it is, you know, a long title reign. But it was a fun fucking chase. It was a fun fucking chase and one that we didn't see coming just a couple months ago. So.
00:39:30
Speaker
Who would you have, I didn't even, I haven't even thought about this yet, but who would you want to see Kofi go up against first? Who would be a good person to have him work with for a first title defense? Um, if you really want to establish him as a champion, let him have a nice good baby face versus baby face feud with AJ Styles, like a skills competition feud for two months to establish him that he actually does belong at this level.
00:39:59
Speaker
Maybe after that you do something with Orton or Owens. Yeah, I don't know. I mean, there's options there. And it's fresh because we haven't seen Kofi in the main event scene. So I'm excited. And never mind the fact the Universal Champion is going to be on Raw every week.
00:40:21
Speaker
It's exciting. It's funny that by the end of that show, you kind of forgot about Seth Rollins. But the reason you felt so good throughout the rest of it was him starting it off. So. Yep. I guess no. Two thumbs up to mania 35. Oh, for sure. And I one last thing.
Future Speculations and Podcast Preview
00:40:39
Speaker
I do have somebody that I want is Finn ballers first. Not necessarily his first. But down the line, I have a title defense forum that I really would like to see.
00:40:50
Speaker
Balor versus Ricochet for the IC title on a pay-per-view. Yes. What about Aleister Black? Aleister Black, who would he be? Him versus Samoa Joe would be fun. Do you think they'll keep those guys together as a team for much longer? Or do you think they're going to split them up into different brands?
00:41:11
Speaker
I don't know, I am a little bummed to see them as a team because they're such good singles competitors and they don't, they're just thrown together for no reason, so. I'm fine with them being- More importantly, how long are we gonna have to wait before we see Sami Zayn back in action, Garrett? That's a great question, maybe tonight. Is he coming back tonight? Actually, what show is, what was he on when he left? Was he on Raw? He was on Raw, we saw his last match, it was against Bobby Lashley at Money in the Bank.
00:41:40
Speaker
I forgot about that before he had like both pectoral or shoulder. He had shoulder or pectoral issues. I can't remember what it was, but he could barely lift either of his arms. So he's been healthy for like a month or month or two, I think so.
00:41:56
Speaker
Maybe they're saving that surprise for After Mania, maybe they'll save it for Raw, maybe they'll save it for SmackDown, who knows, but he was on Raw when he left. Garrett, Mania 35 is in the books. And what's fucked up is tonight? I mean, obviously we recorded this before Raw aired. Raw starts in 20 minutes. Yeah, it is 6.40 at the time of this recording. There is a possibility that that crowd had enough fun last night that they might not ruin Raw.
00:42:25
Speaker
Well, they've had some sleep now, so maybe they'll, maybe they'll come back with just as much energy as they did during the Kofi match. But yeah, another episode of the bonus zone cover in mania 35. That was fun. Well, you guys need to come back on Thursday when we release our new episode, because we're going to be talking Joey Janela spring break part three.
00:42:48
Speaker
Or wait, no, Joey Janello's Spring Break 3 Part 1 and 2. I watched them both. I watched Josh Barnett's Bloodsport. Got a lot of thoughts there. I watched Orange Cassidy is doing something or whatever. That was the name of his pay-per-view. We watched G1 Supercard and NXT TakeOver and there is a shit ton to talk about from Mania Weekend.
00:43:12
Speaker
So we have other things besides WWE to talk about this Thursday, so stay tuned. I'm very excited, Derek, to discuss Joey Janela's spring break with you. This was wild, to say the least. This show almost made me throw up. Let's just leave it there.
00:43:32
Speaker
Alright, well, thanks for listening. Hit us up on social media, at WrestleHangout on Twitter, at WrestleHangout on Facebook, at Predetermined Podcast on Instagram. You can email us at predeterminedpodcast at gmail.com. And if you haven't already, hop on over to iTunes and give us five stars and leave us a sweet review. Thanks, everybody. We'll see you on Thursday. Have a good day. Hit our goddamn music.